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9/11 Ceremony in Memorial Plaza; Former White House Director John Bridgeland is interviewed about 9/11; 9/11 Pentagon Ceremony to be Underway Shortly; Ceremonies today for Flight 93 in Pennsylvania; Frank Siller is Interviewed about his Brother and Tunnel to Towers. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired September 11, 2026 - 09:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[09:00:00]

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Silence at 9:37 a.m., which is the very moment that American Airlines Flight 77 hit the Pentagon. And after that, President Trump, Secretary Hegseth and General Caine will deliver their remarks.

Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Brian, we'll be getting back to you shortly. Thank you so much.

A new hour of our special coverage of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

This hour, the nation pauses and the nation remembers. I'm Kate Bolduan.

It's 9 a.m. here, overlooking the 9/11 Memorial Plaza in lower Manhattan. The commemoration ceremony here is now underway. The first moment of silence has passed, marking the moment that American Airlines Flight 11 hit the north tower 25 years ago today.

By the end of that morning, nearly 3,000 people would be dead in New York, at the Pentagon and in a field in Pennsylvania. It remains the deadliest terror attack in American history.

Very soon we track the time at 9:03 a.m. New York will fall silent once again, marking the moment that United Airlines Flight 175 struck the south tower. And as we were just talking to Brian at the Pentagon, the ceremony is just getting underway this hour honoring the 184 people killed there when Flight 77 struck the building's west side. And we'll be waiting to hear from President Trump to speak at that ceremony.

And in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, a windswept field in Pennsylvania, this morning's observance for Flight 93 is also underway, with a reading of the passengers names and crew members names, and also the bells of remembrance.

We're going to bring all of these moments to you, capturing all of this on this 25th anniversary, right along with you.

CNN's Brynn Gingras is in the plaza in lower Manhattan as things are getting underway.

Talk to me, Brynn. What are you seeing?

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Kate, you know, we're hearing the echoes of the names of all those who've passed here at this hallowed ground. Those names being read right now, of course, in between those moments of silence. One woman just taking a moment, you might have heard it from where you are, Kate, there was applause. She took a moment to make a political comment where it got a lot of applause down here. But other than that, the mood, of course, as you can imagine, incredibly somber.

You know, it's funny talking to people here. They all have a story, right? We have a story. You have a story. Everybody knows something about this day if you lived through it, where you were, what you remember. But we have talked to people who this day is in their memory every single day for the last 25 years, particularly the people who continue to live with the illnesses caused by coming here, being the first responders, being here on the site in the days and the weeks and the months after this horrific tragedy happened. And it's a very important day to them, especially Kate, because there is a seventh bell today at 12:30 for those people, for the survivors who continue to live with that. Let me take a moment before this bell rings.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're always in our thoughts and we love you forever.

BOLDUAN: Listen in.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Gary Eugene Bird.

(BELL RINGS)

(MOMENT OF SILENCE)

(READING OF THE NAMES BY UNIDENTIFIED PEOPLE)

Joshua David Birnbaum

George John Bishop.

Kris Romeo Bishundat.

Jeffrey Donald Bittner.

Albert Balewa Blackman, Jr.

Christopher Joseph Blackwell.

Carrie Rosetta Blagburn.

Susan Leigh Blair.

Harry Blanding, Jr.

Janice Lee Blaney.

Craig Michael Blass.

Rita Blau.

Richard Middleton Blood, Jr.

Michael Andrew Boccardi.

John Paul Bocchi.

Michael L. Bocchino.

Susan M. Bochino.

[09:05:01]

Deora Frances Bodley.

Bruce Douglas Boehm.

Mary Catherine Murphy Boffa.

Nicholas Andrew Bogdan.

Darren Christopher Bohan.

Lawrence Francis Boisseau.

Vincent M. Boland, Jr.

Touri Hamzavi Bolourchi.

Alan Bondarenko.

Andre Bonheur, Jr.

Colin Arthur Bonnett.

Frank J. Bonomo.

BOLDUAN: Listening as the ceremony continues here in lower Manhattan. And as we just all listen together to the second moment of silence, that is the moment that United Flight 175 hit the south tower at 9:03. We will continue to mark these moments with you together.

It is always, I will just say, it's never quiet in New York City, except in these moments when it all falls silent for a moment and you hear one bell ring out. And that is quite a moment.

We're going to keep our eye here. And as we do, joining me right now is John Bridgeland. He's the former director of White House domestic policy -- the Domestic Policy Council. He was also the first director of the U.S. -- of the USA Freedom Corps after 9/11 under President George W. Bush.

It's great to have you this morning. Thanks for being here, John.

JOHN BRIDGELAND, FORMER DIRECTOR, WHITE HOUSE DOMESTIC POLICY COUNCIL: Nice -- nice to be here.

BOLDUAN: Just, first, 25 years later, tell me what you're thinking this morning.

BRIDGELAND: You know, I was in my West Wing office when I learned a third plane was targeting the White House and the Secret Service rushed in and told us to take our shoes off and run. And I'm thinking about, you know, Todd Beamer (ph) and those people on Flight 93 who, in a great act of democracy, literally voted, knowing they were going to their deaths, to take down that plane and how that -- they were thinking about saving other Americans' lives.

I then was summoned to the president's emergency operations center below the White House, and saw the secretary of transportation grounding every plane in the United States to keep the American people safe. Went over to FEMA, to check on the response and carried the emergency declaration back to the White House for the president to sign.

But finally, Kate, that night I went back to my West Wing office and saw hundreds of emails from leaders, you know, across political parties, colleagues, but also total strangers who were offering to help. And I could see already, you know, light coming out of this extraordinarily dark day. The sense that, you know, our differences were really quite petty, and we were all Americans first.

BOLDUAN: Yes. And a good lesson for us, especially these days. And you wrote about this, John. You wrote in your piece, you talk about, "9/11 is kind of a mirror on ourselves." What did the moment reveal about America, about humanity, the horrible and the good?

BRIDGELAND: Yes. President Bush talked about, you know, the millions of acts of kindness and goodness and decency that emerged on that day and that, you know, basically we looked in the mirror, we saw our better selves. I remember President Bush, at the joint session of Congress, Democrat majority leader embraced him on the House floor. I can't imagine that happening today. And how Americans pulled together. You know, blood banks were overflowing, houses of worship open to people. Volunteers poured out to help all across the nation.

In fact, the White House operator, Kate, connected me to a couple from Seattle who were restaurant owners. And when all the planes were grounded, they drove 3,000 miles across the country to Ground Zero to feed the first responders. And that was emblematic of the spirit we saw in the country after 9/11. Everybody was jumping in to help.

BOLDUAN: You spent years focused on national service. If you could go back to the days immediately after 9/11, knowing what we know now, what would you -- what would you -- I don't know, what -- the message -- what would your message to the country be to do the same, to do differently? There's so many lessons and so rarely do we take moments to reflect. I think this is definitely one of those days to do that.

BRIDGELAND: It's interesting. I think, you know, presidents and other leaders who have called the nation to serve across our history, you know, have been fondly remembered for it and have ignited a spirit of unity that enables us to transcend differences, to solve all sorts of public problems.

[09:10:00]

We just had this In Pursuit initiative with More Perfect. And President Obama wrote about Abraham Lincoln, it is only through our union that we can accomplish great things. President Clinton wrote about Teddy Roosevelt, it's only through fostering a greater sense of we that we can become a more perfect union. And President Bush asked us to create an initiative to foster a culture of service, citizenship, and responsibility. We expanded John Kennedy's Peace Corps, Lyndon Johnson's VISTA, Bill Clinton's AmeriCorps, Richard Nixon's senior corps, and President Bush's post 9/11 disaster response corps to the highest levels then and since. More than a million Americans served in those programs. Volunteering swell to a 40 year high. And a quarter million Americans stepped forward to enlist in our military and reserves.

And it was the kind of spirit Senator John Glenn, a Democrat, and Senator Bob Dole, a Republican, reached out to me early on. We tapped them to lead our National Service Council. And we got so much done because we worked across the aisle, including with the 9/11 Commission and other leaders.

BOLDUAN: And with all -- with that knowledge and the clear eyes of the divisiveness of today, when you know with -- we talked a lot about how there are so many people alive today, 100 million people, I believe, who were not alive on 9/11, where this is a -- it's a lesson -- there are lessons to learn, but not a lived experience. What do you say to someone who might say, it's Pollyanna to think, even talk about union and the collective we and the greater good and public service and all the things that you -- that you and -- or we all hope is the legacy of 9/11. What do you say to those who would say cynicism has seeped in too much?

BRIDGELAND: No, I'd say the launch of our more perfect initiative, which is an alliance of all the nations, 44 presidential centers, from Washington's Mount Vernon through the Obama Foundation, over 100 organizations working together to revitalize our democracy. Historian Doris Kearns Goodwin joined us and said, you know, across U.S. history, all transformational change has first been catalyzed by private citizens without public officer appointment, who cared about a cause, cared about a place, cared about a people, and brought about extraordinary change. And in a democracy, citizen, not president, governor, senators, the highest office in the land. And we have to remind the next generation who, by the way, are very socially innovative in creating all sorts of enterprises to tackle public problems across differences, that that's the hope for our democracy. And in turn, it informs how leaders react eventually.

BOLDUAN: John, it's good to speak with you today. Thank you for taking time to tell me your stories and sharing your thoughts. I really appreciate it.

BOLDUAN: We continue to follow the ceremonies throughout the country. We're looking at the Pentagon.

Let's go back down to Memorial Plaza here in lower Manhattan, where Brynn Gingras is standing by.

Brynn, talk to me about what you're seeing, hearing, and, honestly, it's about the feeling down there. When I was there with you, what was it two years ago we were there together, it's -- it is a feeling that you feel.

GINGRAS: Yes, you can't help but feel it. I mean, I, you know, I don't have a story that's directly tied to this site, but I'm in tears all morning. I mean, you can't help but be emotional seeing all of these people and hearing their stories.

You know, I just met a gentleman who was a freshman in college at Fordham University, from Ohio, grew up on a farm. And he said that he, you know, the tower was struck, the first tower. The second tower was hit. And his classmates, his friends, all were in tears, likely probably knowing someone, being that Fordham is in the city. And he's from Ohio.

So, he said, I just went down there. I went down to the site. I asked the National Guard, how can I help? And he stayed here for a week. His parents didn't even know he was here. They knew he was alive, but they didn't even know he was here. And he says, every year it's hard to actually come back to this place because he has so much guilt. The hand he couldn't grab, the person he couldn't take out of that building. He has so much guilt. And he's not the first person I've heard that from.

There is so much emotion, whether it be you lost someone or you, you know, generations of people lost someone possibly at this point. And I think that's the part that gets forgotten, right? As I said before, Kate, when you came to me, people live with this feeling every single day. And those people that have died from illnesses, or they are currently living with an illness, we talked to that woman who takes medications every day.

[09:15:03]

So, every day she's reminded of what happened here 25 years ago.

I actually want you to hear more from Sonia. She was a really, really, you know, a person that her story should be out there. So, let's take a listen to more of what she had to say to me this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SONIA AGRON, 9/11 RECOVERY WORKER: Ten thousand people have died because they were here, because they came to help. And in return, they got sick. It's not just sick, they suffered. So, all of us had to watch our loved ones on 9/11, wondering if they were going to come home. They came home. And now we have sat down watching them go through this again and us going through it again. And it just doesn't end. It just does not end.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GINGRAS: And again, Sonia, as we heard before, Kate, she says she knows that seventh bell that begins today will be repeated every year during this ceremony. The bell that is for those who are living with and have died from 9/11 related illnesses. She knows that that bell one day will be ringing for her. I mean just think about that. It's just incredible.

And those are the stories, of course, that just need to be repeated. Also the stories of the heroes, right? The people that did go run here, just like that gentleman I talked to who was a freshman in college, who ran here in the face of danger to save others. Those are the stories that we need to continue to tell.

And I can assure you, even though I can't get close enough to those memorial pools, I can assure you those are being told again right now.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: So glad you're there, Brynn. Thank you so much.

And it was -- it was making me also think of, you know, the first battalion chief from the FDNY who was on the scene in ground -- made it to the scene on 9/11. He was on with Anderson Cooper last night. And he said, an important thing to remember is, yes, nearly 3,000 people were lost that day. But because of the courage of all of the first responders that ran towards the danger, 17,000 other lives were saved that day. Also worth remembering.

We're going to get back to Brynn. She's following all these -- well, meeting remarkable people along the way, following all of the moments happening here in lower Manhattan for us.

Also want to get back to Washington right now. CNN's senior White House correspondent Kristen Holmes is standing by.

Kristen, what's the latest from there?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kate, we're still waiting for this Pentagon ceremony to get underway. President Trump has left the White House. We have seen several of these officials filing in, including Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and General Dan Caine. And it does sound like they are reading the names now at the Pentagon. That was the first part of that ceremony, as you can see there.

And one of the things that we had reported, and I bring this up because it is rare to hear from a president during one of these events commemorating 9/11 because back in 2012 we, down at Ground Zero, they stopped having any politicians deliver speeches. And there had been some previous CNN reporting that part of the reason President Trump wanted to go to the Pentagon over Ground Zero was because he wanted to give remarks.

And I bring that up because he will be giving remarks, and also because he just commented on this during an interview with a radio show. And this was pre-taped yesterday. So, it's not something he did this morning. But he talked specifically about this at length. It was clearly something that bothered him. Saying that he didn't even want to speak. That this isn't something that was true, despite the reports that he wanted to give a speech and that he was not allowed to.

He also went on to say, I'm not going to force myself to speech. By the way. I think that they would have changed the rules for me if I had actually wanted to speak at Ground Zero. Again, they really took the politics out of the 9/11 commemoration back in 2012, taking politicians out of it.

And we will hear from President Trump today, as well as some of his top officials. Again, the big question is the tone, as always, with President Trump, the tone that he's going to strike, what he's going to reflect upon on this 25th anniversary as he actually goes up there to talk to members of the Pentagon, military officials, people who were there the day that the plane hit, as well as just the general public. It is something that we know President Trump has thought a lot about. He was in New York City during 9/11, 25 years ago. So, we'll be listening to hear what his addresses is to the nation, really, as he stands there at the Pentagon.

BOLDUAN: Yes, that's a -- that's a -- that's a great point.

Kristen, thank you so much.

We're going to be bringing those remarks to you and those moments as well from the Pentagon.

[09:20:03]

We just saw the president, the first lady, arriving there in that video.

In the meantime, let's get back to Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where Danny Freeman is watching the ceremonies unfold there as well.

Danny, bring us up to speed.

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Kate, that's right. The ceremony has officially started here, just outside of Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where United Airlines Flight 93 crashed down in a field behind me 25 years ago today.

We've seen wreaths being laid for both of the planes hitting the twin towers in New York. We've also heard those bells of remembrance. And then we've heard music go on throughout the morning as well.

And, you know, Kate, as you and Brynn and others have been talking about all the emotions that come out there by Ground Zero, here, there's incredible sadness, there's intense reflection, but also just a deep, deep sense of gratitude for the 40 crew members and passengers who were on board Flight 93, who their story here was, they actually staged a revolt and prevented what would have likely been an attack on the U.S. Capitol all those years ago.

So, the theme here, just outside Shanksville at this memorial, has really been never forget and remembering for the next generation. So, I'll just refresh our viewers memories.

This particular story, Flight 93, took off from Newark that morning on September 11th. It was headed to San Francisco when it was ultimately hijacked.

Now, what was interesting about this particular flight, Kate, is that the passengers started to call their loved ones and to call 911 to tell people that this plane had been hijacked. And there already had been the attack on the twin towers. So, they, these crew members and passengers, realized that this was part of a larger attack. And that is when they incredibly decided to take a vote on whether or not they wanted to storm the cockpit and try and stop these hijackers and try and stop this terror attack. That is ultimately what they did. And the hijackers, because of this impending attack from the crew and passengers, they ultimately decided to take this plane down in this field behind me, notably not in Washington, D.C., not at the U.S. Capitol, which likely was those -- the target of these hijackers.

Now, Kate, I want you to take a listen to the brother of one of the passengers on this plane. The passenger was Edward Porter Felt. He actually called 911 from the sky to alert folks that there was a hijacking going on. His brother, Gordon, he was reflecting on the importance of this anniversary and the importance of, again, making sure the next generation remembers.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GORDON FELT, BROTHER OF FLIGHT 93 PASSENGER EDWARD P. FELT: We won't be here to tell the story, eventually. We'll do it as long as we can, but at some point we've got to hand it off to the next generation. And we want to make sure that we've got the story, we've got the site, we've got the setting in place so that the story of heroism, of resiliency, of the collective actions and those individuals will be remembered in perpetuity.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREEMAN: They certainly will, Kate.

And up here by the visitor center where we are, there have been a lot of people watching the wreath laying down actually closer to the site of the actual crash. There are also going to be speakers later on this afternoon, including Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, the secretary of the interior, Doug Burgum, as well, and other loved ones of folks who were on that flight.

But again, Flight 93, just a remarkable story of heroism for those crew members and passengers who ultimately stopped one of the attacks on September 11th and lost their lives.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: Danny, thank you so much for bringing us that.

And I've had the opportunity to visit Shanksville and cover it for CNN. And if you haven't, if you ever have an opportunity to go and you have not, it is -- it is a remarkable place. It is vast. It is -- it's a field. It's fields of Pennsylvania. And there is this wind that sweeps through that, I don't know, it is -- I describe it as almost otherworldly because it just kind of comes out of nowhere. It's -- it is quite a place to be and think about the heroism that saved so many lives in what they did and the choices they made.

It's great to see you, Danny. Thank you so much.

Let's go now back to the ceremony here in lower Manhattan, right behind me, as we are watching crowds gathering, the ceremony underway, the reading of the names here in New York.

(READING OF THE NAMES BY UNIDENTIFIED PEOPLE)

Danny A. Correa-Gutierrez.

Georgine Rose Corrigan.

James J. Corrigan.

Carlos Cortez-Rodriguez.

Kevin Michael Cosgrove.

[09:25:00]

Dolores Marie Costa.

Digna Alexandra Costanza.

Charles Gregory Costello, Jr.

Michael S. Costello.

Asia S. Cottom.

Conrod Kofi Cotty, Sr.

Martin John Coughlan.

John G. Coughlin.

Timothy J. Coughlin.

James E. Cove.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And my aunt, Lisa Marie Terry. For 25 years, the deep state has hidden the truth about what happened that day 25 years ago. President Trump, you are our last hope. Release the unredacted files that implicate Saudi Arabia while what's left of the victim's families are still alive to see it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And my grandfather, Alexis Leduc. Even though I never got to meet you, I know you made my dad a great person. I am so happy to be carrying your last name. And I love you with all my heart.

BOLDUAN: On this 25th anniversary, we are honoring those brave men and women who made that ultimate sacrifice. Men like Stephen Siller. A member of the FDNY, Stephen had just finished a shift. He was on his way to play golf with his brothers. That's when he heard of the north tower being hit. Stephen ultimately raced back, on foot, carrying 60 pounds of gear through the Battery Tunnel to get to the twin towers to help. And he never made it home that night.

I'm joined now by Frank Siller, chairman and CEO of the Tunnel to Towers Foundation. Most importantly, of course, Stephen's brother.

Thank you for being here.

FRANK SILLER, CHAIRMAN AND CEO, TUNNEL TO TOWERS FOUNDATION: Thank you for having me on, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Just before -- well, let's just -- let's just jump in. We have this beautiful video of you and the family.

SILLER: Oh, boy.

BOLDUAN: Walking the tunnel this morning.

SILLER: Yes.

BOLDUAN: And finishing it. And we're going to show it to our viewers.

Talk to me about what that -- what does it feel like to do that knowing what your brother did?

SILLER: Listen, you know, we -- Tunnel to Towers, you know, we try to take -- it's a sad day. It's always a very sad day. And, you know, you never really get over it. You learn to live with it. You know, I love my brother so much. He was our little brother. He's youngest of seven of us. He was married, had five kids. It's a great sacrifice.

But we need to do something to honor him and all those who perished that day. And, you know, five years ago, I walked from the -- from the Pentagon to Shanksville to Ground Zero, because it was a personal thing for me. It was 552 miles, 15 miles a day for six weeks. And I -- and I knew we had to do something for the 25th anniversary. And I wanted to make it nationwide.

So, we took a piece of steel that the Port Authority gave us, and we brought it all over the United States. We started at Ground Zero, and we ended at Ground Zero today. And walked through my family, his children, Stephen Junior. Stephen Junior was with the steel 95 percent of the time all around the United States. He was with Andy Card (ph) down in (INAUDIBLE) Booker School down in Sarasota, Florida, where Andy whispered in President Bush's ear that were -- that the north tower was hit. For him to go there and talk about his father all that time, it is -- it is something that is so special to our family, but to other families too.

We have to tell America what happened 25 years ago. A third of America wasn't even born.

BOLDUAN: Right.

SILLER: Or they were so young they have no idea. And we got to remind other Americans what happened, because they're some be -- fade away in, you know, like almost today is another day. And thank God that it's, you know, I see all the media up here that is covering everything and it's good.

But Stephen left behind a wife and five kids, and we just wanted to honor a good man. And we started a foundation. And today we have delivered 55 mortgage free homes today because we decided as a family that we weren't going to let evil win out. And that goodness always triumphs over evil. And we've proven that today by delivering 55 mortgage free homes, 343 in total this year, almost one a day, now to our great heroes who serve our country or our first responders.

BOLDUAN: You guys have -- you have proven that good triumphs over evil over and over again with the foundation and what you've done. Does it feel like 25 years to you?

SILLER: In some ways, yes, because I see his kids get married and having children.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

SILLER: And, you know, I have my own children married. I got a 17- year-old granddaughter, you know what I mean? So yes, in some ways like that. In other ways, you know, when I go to play golf, you know, I play my, you know, my other brother George and -- or my friends or whatever. I always put an extra tee in the ground for my brother Stephen, because we were golf --

[09:30:01]

BOLDUAN: You do?

SILLER: Well, yes, because we played golf all the time. We snuck out early in the morning. We had a lot of kids. We squeezed in golf like you can't believe it.